


If Only for a Moment

by everythingmurky



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-23 01:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11392191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythingmurky/pseuds/everythingmurky
Summary: Kara and Lee don't have a relationship. They have moments.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kayim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayim/gifts).



> When I looked over the request, I saw the line, "they love each other but can never manage to be together," and my brain churned it around into a lot of jumbled thoughts and bits of fic. This is what I pared it down to, though I think were I not limited to 100 words, I'd have done the idea better justice. I think a novel could be written about that particular subject, and I almost did it here, since my original ideas included dialogue and a bit of kisses, and in the end, I had to go with her thoughts to make it fit together. There is a longer version of this in my head, though.

* * *

Nothing good ever lasts. Life taught her that. So she never expected forever, not even with Zak. She took whatever she could get from the moment, chasing any thrill she might find. She thought Lee was just another one. He's not.

Something about Lee makes a part of her want to hold on with all she's got and the rest of her wants to run as far away as she can get. 

They dance around each other, coming close and backing away again. They get moments, and in them, he's hers. She's his. It won't last, but nothing ever does.


	2. She's Like the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee knows he can't hold her. That doesn't stop him from wanting to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot it could be a drabble series. So while this still isn't quite what I would do if I were just to write it all out, I'm going to use a few more of the ideas where I can make them fit as drabbles. I hope that's okay.

* * *

Lee knew from the beginning that Kara was not someone that could be held or contained. She was intangible, like the wind, something you could see and look for and almost touch—when it let you—but that was gone again in an instant. 

All the while, he knew he couldn't keep her, as much as he felt himself wanting to more and more as time went on and they grew closer.

He tried to be content with what they had, but he wasn't that good of a person. He always wanted more. He always chased the wind.

And lost.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to do this dialogue only. That didn't go so well, so I changed it to this.

* * *

“Tell me it'll last this time,” Lee whispered before his lips grazed her ear. Kara tried not to react, but she shivered in spite of herself.

“You know I can't do that.” She wanted to, wanted to stay, wanted this all to be real, but they both knew what it was. And what it wasn't.

“Yes, you could. All you'd have to do is say it and mean it, and I don't know why you wouldn't mean it. Not now. Not after all this.”

She shook her head. “It doesn't change anything. We can't do this.”

“You mean you won't.”


	4. What If

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I tried to do the concept of the love but never get it together, I had this idea about "what if there was a world where they got it right?" I have no idea what that would look like, but I took that to them discussing it instead, and it kind of fit with the other drabbles.

* * *

“You think there's a universe out there where we got it right?”

He snorted, looking over at her. “Us? Probably not. We're both stubborn and stupid and can't seem to do the right thing if it kills us.”

“You say that like I didn't try. You know I did. I was trying to... save you.”

He shook his head. “You tried to save yourself, and instead, you screwed us all over. Not that I didn't do my part, but I will never believe you made the right choice. And I know I didn't.”

“We could have. Maybe somewhere we do.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee is tired of all of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little worried this doesn't stand on its own, but the dialogue just felt right and then it was at the 100 character limit, so I put it as is. Again, there'd be more if I was not watching the word count.

* * *

“I'm tired, Kara. Tired of the circles and the games and the fact that the only time we're honest is when we're hurting each other.”

“That's not all we do.”

“I didn't say it was. I just... I hated you for what you did. I hated you for choosing someone else. I hated you because you shot me. I hated you for a lot of things for a long time. I don't want to hate you anymore,” he admitted, more of his fatigue showing in his voice. “I just want to love you. And just not for a moment. Forever.”


	6. How Can We Say Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They don't get forever. Unless they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one because, in spite of the show and everything, I like to end with a bit of hope.

* * *

She tried to tell him they didn't get forever. They got moments. They were Viper pilots. They lived dangerous lives, at war with an enemy that wouldn't stop and got into your head, messing around in there until you didn't know up from down. They were leaders, responsible for too many. They didn't get forever. They didn't even get time for themselves.

Lee gave an impassioned speech of two words and a kiss that left her breathless, and she knew that even as much as she should only expect the moment, she wanted something else, something too dangerous to name.


End file.
